Contact Details

François Couny

Biography

Francois is the Knowledge Transfer Fellow on the KTA project headed by Dr. Fetah Benabid. Francois is responsible for the efficient transfer of the Photonic Microcell (PMC) technology know-how acquired at the Gas-Phase Photonic Materials (GPPM) group in the CPPM to the spin-out company GLOphotonics in incubation at the University of Bath.

Francois has eight-years experience in the hollow core fibre technology underpinning the PMC, having been one of the first engineers to join Blaze Photonics, a photonic crystal fibre spin-off of the University of Bath from 2001 to 2004.

Thanks to a subsequent PhD and a 3-years Post-Doctoral position at the GPPM group headed by Dr. Fetah Benabid, Francois also gained a six-years experience developing the photonic microcell technology. Francois's work has been published in high-ranking international journals such as Nature and Science, mainly on ultra-efficient stimulated Raman scattering observed in PMC devices. Francois won the 2008 OSA/New Focus Student award recognizing research excellence, presentation prowess, and leadership in the optics community.

Selected publications

Optical frequency comb generation in gas-filled hollow core photonic crystal fibres
F. Couny & F. Benabid
J. Opt. A: Pure Appl. Opt. 11 (2009) 103002

Generation and Photonic Guidance of Multi-Octave Optical-Frequency Combs
F. Couny, F. Benabid, P.J. Roberts, P.S. Light & M.G. Raymer
Science 318 (2007) 1118-1121

Subwatt Threshold cw Raman Fiber-Gas Laser Based on H2-Filled Hollow-Core Photonic Crystal Fiber
F. Couny, F. Benabid & P.S. Light
Phys. Rev. Lett. 99(2007) 143903

Compact, stable and efficient all-fibre gas cells using hollow core photonic crystal fibres
F. Benabid, F. Couny, J.C. Knight, T.A. Birks & P.St.J. Russell
Nature 434 (2005) 488-491

Ultrahigh efficiency laser wavelength conversion in a gas-filled hollow core photonic crystal fibre by pure stimulated rotational Raman scattering in molecular hydrogen
F. Benabid, G. Bouwmans, J.C. Knight, P.St.J Russell & F. Couny
Phys. Rev. Lett. 93 (2004) 123903